United States v. Shipp

392 F. Supp. 3d 300
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJuly 11, 2019
Docket19-CR-029 (NGG)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 392 F. Supp. 3d 300 (United States v. Shipp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Shipp, 392 F. Supp. 3d 300 (E.D.N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

NICHOLAS G. GARAUFIS, United States District Judge.

Defendant Alonzo Shipp ("Shipp" or "Defendant") moves to suppress evidence obtained from his Facebook account. (See Mots. to Suppress (Dkt. 20); Mem. in Support of Mots. to Suppress ("Mem.") (Dkt. 20-1).)1 For the following reasons, the court DENIES Defendant's motion.

*303I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts2

1. Alleged Shooting

On or about July 20, 2018, an unnamed individual, referred to herein as John Doe, was shot in the vicinity of 117-26 147th Street in Queens, New York. (Compl. (Dkt. 1) ¶ 2.) Doe then ran south down 147th Street and east on 119th Street to the corner of 119th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard, where he collapsed. (Id. )

Video of the incident shows an individual wearing a white t-shirt pointing an object at another individual. (Id. ¶ 3.) A muzzle flash is visible. (Id. ) The video then shows Doe running south on 147th Street. (Id. )

Doe then called 911 and stated in part: "I've been shot ... My shooter's coming to me right now ... My shooter is on me ... My shooter is right here, my shooter is right here" and "I don't want to die Pump, please. Please [inaudible] Pump. Pump. Pump. I don't want to die Pump. Pump I don't want to die, Pump." (Id. ¶¶ 4, 6.)

Video cameras captured footage of Doe on Sutphin Boulevard. (Id. ¶ 7.) The footage shows an individual approach Doe, take an item out of his pants or waistband, stand over Doe, point an object at him, and then walk away. (Id. ) As he walked away, his face was visible on a surveillance camera. (Id. ) Surveillance video of the incident also appears to show the alleged shooter wearing a bandage or similar object on his lower left arm. (Aff. in Supp. of an Appl. for a Search Warrant ("Aff.") (Dkt. 25-1) ¶ 7.)

On January 2, 2019, Shipp was arrested and charged with possession of the firearm alleged to have been used in the July 20, 2018 incident. (See Mem. at 6; Indictment (Dkt. 7) ¶ 1.)

2. Facebook Warrant

On February 8, 2019, Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon signed a search and seizure warrant authorizing disclosure of information associated with Facebook user ID 100002075016114 (the "Facebook Warrant"). (See Facebook Warrant (Dkt. 25-1) at ECF p. 17-22.) The warrant application was based on the affidavit of Special Agent Joanna Beck of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (the "Affidavit"). (See Aff. at ECF p. 2-16.) The Affidavit set forth the basis for probable cause, which included the following:

• During a 911 call placed during the alleged shooting, the victim can be heard calling the shooter "Pump." (Id. )
• Surveillance video of the incident on July 20, 2018 appear to show the shooter wearing a bandage or similar object on his lower left arm. (Id. ¶ 7.)
• Shipp has admitted that he uses the nickname "Pump." (Id. )
• Publicly accessible photos, including a profile picture, on a Facebook account belonging to a user calling himself "Sts Pistol Tony" appear to be photos of Shipp, indicating that the account may belong to Shipp. (Id. ¶ 9.)
• Individuals wish the account holder "Happy Birthday" on October 31, the date of Shipp's birthday. (Id. )
• Publicly available photos from May 25, 2018 from this account show Shipp with what appears to be an ACE bandage on his lower left arm *304fewer than two months before the date of the shooting. (Id. ¶ 10.)3
• Publicly available posts from 2018 on the account appear to show Shipp referring to himself as "Pump" and other individuals referring to him as "Pump." (Id. ¶ 11.)

The Facebook Warrant required Facebook to disclose to the Government a substantial amount of information pertaining to the user ID identified:

(a) All contact and personal identifying information, including full name, user identification number, birth date, gender, contact e-mail addresses, Facebook passwords, Facebook security questions and answers, physical address (including city, state, and zip code), telephone numbers, screen names, websites, and other personal identifiers.
(b) All activity logs for the account and all other documents showing the user's posts and other Facebook activities;
(c) All photos and videos uploaded by that user ID and all photos and videos uploaded by any user that have that user tagged in them;
(d) All profile information; News Feed information; status updates; links to videos, photographs, articles, and other items; Notes; Wall postings; friend lists, including the friends' Facebook user identification numbers; groups and networks of which the user is a member, including the groups' Facebook group identification numbers; future and past event postings; rejected "Friend" requests; comments; gifts; pokes; tags; and information about the user's access and use of Facebook applications;
(e) All other records of communications and messages made or received by the user, including all private messages, chat history, video calling history, and pending "Friend" requests;
(f) All "check ins" and other location information;
(g) All IP logs, including all records of the IP addresses that logged into the account;
(h) All records of the account's usage of the "Like" feature, including all Facebook posts and all non-Facebook webpages and content that the user has "liked";
(i) All information about the Facebook pages that the account is or was a "fan" of;
(j) All past and present lists of friends created by the account;
(k) All records of Facebook searches performed by the account;
(l) All information about the user's access and use of Facebook Marketplace;
(m) The types of service utilized by the user;
(n) The length of service (including start date) and the means and source of any payments associated with the service (including any credit card or bank account number);
(o) All privacy settings and other account settings, including privacy settings for individual Facebook posts and activities, and all records *305showing which Facebook users have been blocked by the account;
(p) All records pertaining to communications between Facebook and any person regarding the user or the user's Facebook account, including contacts with support services and records of actions taken.

(Facebook Warrant, Attach. B-I.)

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Bluebook (online)
392 F. Supp. 3d 300, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-shipp-nyed-2019.